Althea

Lyrics:Robert HunterMusic:Jerry Garcia

I told Althea I was feeling lost
Lacking in some direction
Althea told me upon scrutiny
That my back might need protection
I told Althea that treachery
Was tearing me limb from limb
Althea told me, now cool down boy
Settle back easy, Jim

You may be Saturday's child all grown
Moving with a pinch of grace
You may be a clown in the burying ground
Or just another pretty face
You may be the fate of Ophelia
Sleeping and perchance to dream
Honest to the point of recklessness (note 1)
Self-centred to the extreme

Ain't nobody messin' with you but you
Your friends are getting most concerned
Loose with the truth, maybe its your fire
Baby, I hope you don't get burned
When the smoke has cleared, she said
That's what she said to me
You're gonna want a bed to lay your head
And a little sympathy

There are things you can replace
And others you cannot
The time has come to weigh those things
This space is gettin' hot
You know this space is gettin' hot

I told Althea, I'm a roving sign
That I was born to be a bachelor
Althea told me, OK that's fine
So now I'm trying to catch her
Can't talk to you without talking to me (note 2)
We're guilty of the same old thing
Thinking a lot about less and less
And forgetting the love we bring

Notes(1) Garcia sang "self-centered to the point of innocence"
in a studio rehearsal, and in early live versions of the song
(thanks to Joek Roex for pointing this out).
He also mixed up the order of the verses, for example:

I told Althea I was feeling lost ...
You may be the fate of Ophelia ...

I told Althea that treachery ...
When the smoke has cleared, she said ...

You may be Saturday's child all grown ...
Ain't nobody messin' with you but you ...

(2) Hunter's lyrics in "Box Of Rain" are "Can't talk to
me without talking to you" but Garcia sang it the other way round

Futher Information
For an online discussion of the lyrics to this song see the deadsongs.vue conference on The Well.
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography
For information on references in the lyrics see David Dodd's Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics
For David Dodd's discussion of this song on dead.net see Greatest Stories Ever Told
For online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
Without A Net Songbook (piano arrangement)
Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

Notes(5) the sheet music in "Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 2" misses out the second page of the music (it is correct in the "Without A Net" songbook)